Like Honey, Like Sugar
by csiwholocked33
Summary: M/F POETIC DRABBLE. His TARDIS knows just what to do when The Doctor is down... or more specifically, just who to bring him to.


After sailing through space and time with her Doctor for quite a few regenerations, the brilliantly cobalt blue Tardis had grown to love and understand him quite more deeply than he realized. She could see it in his sparkling eyes when the sorrow of a few hundred years of festering guilt and loss was becoming too much to bear alone. When she could manage it, she'd "crash" or "malfunction" so as to land in a location she'd carefully chosen hours before, when his lovely, laughing eyes first began to dull with grief.

At the moment, she thought it looked like he'd be needing an unplanned visit to his truest love in the very near future... oops, she thought, and if she'd had a face, it would've been wearing a smug little smile.

***CRASH.***

"Damnit...!" the Doctor muttered under his breath, as he was woken by his head being knocked forcefully against the headboard of his four-poster bed as the Tardis roughly landed. He hadn't planned for a landing any time soon; he wasn't sleeping of course, seeing as time lords didn't, but he had been lying eyes closed in his room, pondering where he might next go to seek distraction from the constant turmoil in his ancient mind.

He grudgingly climbed out of bed, slid his striped-sock-covered feet into his waiting shoes and straightened his box tie. Entering the main console room of his grand and occasionally moody Tardis, he wondered aloud, "where have you carelessly dropped me this time, you brilliant, changeable, but-still-very-sexy thing?" A small smile tugged at his cheeks as he spoke his secret pet name for the beautiful time machine, and his gorgeously sculpted face was still settling back into its previous weary expression when he stepped out through her front door.

The air was cool and still, and it seemed to be twilight, or maybe the night's slow inhalation just before dawn. He scanned the sky, counting three lilac-coloured moons and an infinite number of surprisingly bright stars glistening on a pale cerulean background.

Softly, warmly, an oddly familiar melody drifted across the flat prairie-like land of the mysterious planet until it met his attentive ears. It was definitely the singing of a human or humanoid creature, and he shut the door of his Tardis silently behind him. The Doctor crept quietly through the tall, jade-hued grasses in the direction of the alluring sound.

After a few minutes of cautiously tip-toeing across the vast green field, he was drawing near to what seemed to be a small canvas tent set upon a clearing of bare earth. The voice was indeed coming from inside of it, and as he drew nearer to the structure he couldn't help be swayed by the hopeful voice of his subconscious... it did remind him so much of her, he thought, but then again, didn't everything?

He honestly thought his mind was playing a cruel trick on him when he first saw the short curvy form with a head of bouncy, lush curls round the tent from behind and slip inside. After a few vigorous blinks and a good double-take or two, The Doctor realized that yes, it was really and truly her. His River, his one and only love. She was here on this unknown world, and his sly Tardis had managed to crash-land him here, of all places? A childish grin crept across his face and he made a mental note to praise and thank his darling Sexy when he returned later on.

Lead by the joyful nervousness that always crept into his stomach upon thinking of the gorgeousness that is River Song, The Doctor stepped forward, purposefully taking louder, heavier steps so as to not startle her too much. Illuminated by what he now saw to be the light of a brilliant sunset, he saw her silhouette turn inside the tent at the sound of his footfalls. River opened the tent flap with her gun in hand, but the moment she saw who was walking towards her, her glorious face lit up.

"Hello, Sweetie!" she cried, almost giddily, before dropping her weapon inside the tent and crossing the short few strides left between her and her lover. She grabbed his slim torso in a tight embrace, and he wrapped his long arms around her shoulders, rubbing gently on her back as he buried his face in her astonishing hair. He took a deep breath of her intoxicating scent, his heart caught between his overwhelming joy at the feel of her snuggled close to his chest and that perfect smell of her diaphanous curls. River pulled back just a bit, bringing her hands up to his shoulders. One slid up to caress his face, and she stared into his now glistening eyes for a long second before pressing her full lips to his.

The kiss was softer than cotton candy, sweeter than honey, than sugar... it was delicate, and yet so full of all the "I-love-yous" they missed speaking to one another as universes and millennia often separated them. The Doctor pressed his hands into the small of her back, urging her closer still, and she smiled obligingly against his mouth as she deepened their kiss. Still not hasty but markedly more passionate, their lips connected a number more times before they could draw apart once more. She lead him by the hand into her tent, and they lay down on the large air mattress that covered much of the floor inside of it. She cuddled endearingly into him, wrapping his hand over her stomach and lacing her fingers through his. The Doctor sighed contentedly as he curled himself to spoon her lovely small form.

"I love you, darling," she said softly, before kissing each of his fingertips and letting her eyes drift shut.

"Oh River, I love you too. So very much." He whispered in her ear, and she shivered just a little, a breathy giggle escaping her rosy mouth. And finally, The Doctor closed his eyes again. Four full hearts beat a sweet rhythm, and although neither could truly "sleep," they fell then into a beautifully restful state of soul-slumber, turning off their worry-filled minds for a few hours to simply be with the one they loved.

Three lilac moons floated higher into the nighttime sky, and a bright blue police box smiled, seeing that her job, for the moment, was finished.


End file.
